Jeff Hornacek will leave Tyrone Corbin’s staff in Utah to become the Suns new head coach.

The Phoenix Suns have agreed terms with Utah Jazz assistant coach and former Sun Jeff Hornacek to fill their head coaching void.

Per CBSSports.com’s Ken Berger, Hornacek’s deal will last three years and be worth just under $6 million, with a team option for a fourth season. The Suns started the season with Alvin Gentry calling the shots but removed him midway through this season, replacing him with Lindsey Hunter as interim coach. The team interviewed Hunter for the full-time job after he led the Suns to a 12-29 record in the remaining 41 games of the season.

The players never really backed Hunter though, and now he finds himself on the outside as a former fan favorite returns to Phoenix: Hornacek played with the Suns from 1986-92, making the All-Star team in his final season.

After Phoenix, he played for the Utah Jazz under legendary coach Jerry Sloan before joining his staff as a shooting coach, steadily progressing to the role of assistant coach after Sloan’s departure and Corbin’s arrival.

The Suns had a disappointing season – even for the standards of a team expecting little from the current season. The roster is finally undergoing a much-needed rebuild after losing Steve Nash to the Lakers before the season. In return for the future Hall of Fame point guard, Phoenix scored a stash of future draft picks that will help the team load up on players with high potential and low salaries.

Hornacek has the benefit of years of experience under Sloan, one of the league’s all-time great coaches and as Tyrone Corbin’s assistant. He is also well-known to Phoenix fans after forming a key part of the Suns unit that got to two consecutive Conference Finals in 1989 and 1990, losing to the Showtime Lakers and Drexler’s Trail Blazers respectively.

The Suns have fallen on hard times since Mike D’Antoni’s departure after the 2008 season. The Suns had made the post-season seven times in nine years and all the way to the Conference Finals in 2006 riding Steve Nash in D’Antoni’s fabled Seven Seconds Or Less offense. The Suns made the playoffs in the 2009-10 season but have failed since, compiling a 198-196 record.

Hornacek’s first task will be to decide which prospect to select with the fifth pick in the upcoming draft and sort out which of the players currently on the roster can be traded for young assets or yet more picks as the rebuild enters full flow.

@PeterOwen00

Feb 20, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Phoenix Suns center Marcin Gortat (4) shoots the ball against the Golden State Warriors during the first quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

2012-13 has been a season-long struggle for the Phoenix Suns and it does not get better from here on out – the team’s starting center Marcin Gortat will be sidelined for up to a month with a sprained foot.

The Polish center sustained the injury in the embarassing loss to the Toronto Raptors, saying that he felt something pop. Gortat himself reacted to his own misfortune on Twitter:

Awsome:(((( out for 3weeks!!!!

— Marcin Gortat (@MGortat) March 7, 2013

Thats the last thing i need!!!!

— Marcin Gortat (@MGortat) March 7, 2013

Gortat’s numbers have decreased since last year, when he averaged career-high numbers. This year he is putting up 11.1 points per game, 8.5 rebounds per game and 1.6 blocks per game, on 52.1 field goal percentage. Gortat thrived when playing with Steve Nash, who made the center’s numbers look better than he was actually able to put up without an elite point guard. Goran Dragic has been great for the Suns, but he is not Steve Nash.

The Suns will obviously miss Gortat, but his injury will not really change what is already a lost season for the Phoenix Suns. When the team decided to finally let go of Nash and let him pursue a championship, everyone knew that Phoenix were in for a couple draft lottery appearances over the coming years.

Phoenix rank thirteenth in the Western Conference with a 21-40 record. Sure, Gortat’s injury hurts, but it’s not like the team was headed anywhere with him in the lineup anywhere.

Vytis is the editor of King James Gospel. You can follow him on Twitter here: @VytisLasaitis

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